On December 17, a British Muslim family of 11
was barred without explanation from traveling to Los Angeles, where they
planned to visit Disneyland. (Photo: Getty)

British Muslims—including a family of 11
headed to Disneyland—are increasingly being barred from the U.S. without
explanation, according to critics in the UK, who are calling on Prime Minister
David Cameron to step in and address the problem.

Despite the family having been granted travel
authorization online ahead of their planned December 15 flight to Los Angeles,
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security refused to allow them to board the
plane at London's Gatwick Airport. No one has told them why they were prevented
from traveling.

But Mohammad Tariq Mahmood, one of the family
members, told the Guardian that
the reason was "obvious."

"It's because of the attacks on
America," he said. "They think every Muslim poses a threat."

Mahmood's comments echo those of prominent
British imam Ajmal Masroor, who reportedly had his U.S. visa revoked on
December 17 just after checking in for a Virgin Atlantic flight at Heathrow
Airport.

In a Facebook post, Masroor said he had been made aware of at
least 10 other similar cases, but that those affected were "very afraid
they'll never be able to visit America again" if they speak publicly about
the issue.

He said he believed Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump's anti-Muslim statements were poisoning the U.S.'s approach
to followers of the religion. "Trump's rhetoric is dangerous,"
Masroor wrote, "and is influencing foreign affairs between the U.S. and
other countries."

"If America is going to develop zero
Muslim tolerance, it's a very worrying disposition," Masroor continued.
"Muslims are not responsible for all the atrocities in the world. I would
tell Barack Obama, if he were here, that it's about being fair."

For Mahmood, whose family was denied their
trip to Disneyland, fairness—or the lack thereof—was also in question.

According to the Guardian:

He said
the children had been counting down the days to the trip for months, and were
devastated not to be able to visit their cousins as planned.

He said
that the airline told them that they would not be refunded the $13,340 cost of
their flights. They were also forced to return everything they bought at the
airport’s duty-free shops before being escorted from the airport.

“I have
never been more embarrassed in my life. I work here, I have a business here.
But we were alienated,” Mahmood said.

Labour MP Stella Creasy, who said she
"hit a brick wall" while making inquiries on behalf of Mahmood and
his family, has written to Cameron calling on him to
challenge the U.S. on its "secretive security policies."

Not to do so, she warned, could have grave
consequences in British society.

"It is not just the family
themselves who are livid," she wrote in an op-ed on Tuesday. "The
vacuum created by a refusal to provide any context for these decisions is
fueling resentment and debate. Online and offline discussions reverberate with
the growing fear that UK Muslims are being 'trumped'—that widespread
condemnation of Donald Trump's call for no Muslim to be allowed into America
contrasts with what is going on in practice."

"Faced with such claims, our concern
should be to offer more than a critique of American Republican primary
political positioning," she said. "Because this isn't happening in
the US. It's happening on British soil, at our airports and involving our
citizens and challenging their sense of place in our society too."

She argued: "

If the embassy won't answer to the family's
MP, it should answer to their prime minister

and
he to us about what he is doing to ensure that no British citizen is being
discriminated against for their faith on our shores."

This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives."
Eugene Victor Debs